Lose a Korean passport and the order is report the loss, then apply for a reissue. Article 13 of the Passport Act says a passport loses effect when its holder reports it lost, and Article 20 of the Enforcement Decree lets the Ministry share the number, date and place of loss with the Justice Ministry, the police, foreign governments and international bodies. Repeated losses shorten the new passport: 2 losses within 5 years gives 5 years; 3 or more, or 2 within 1 year, gives 2 years. Here are the Act, Decree and Ordinance as written, with a tool that shows the new passport’s validity from your loss history.
1. Once reported, the passport loses effect (Act Art. 13(1)3); no provision revives it if found.
2. Report on the “passport loss report” form, with any evidence of how it was lost (Ordinance Art. 11).
3. 2 losses in 5 years → 5 years; 3 or more, or 2 in 1 year → 2 years (Decree Art. 6(2)6; force majeure not counted).
Reporting the loss — Decree Art. 20, Ordinance Art. 11
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Who, to whom (Decree (1)) | A person who loses a passport may report it to the Minister of Foreign Affairs as the Ordinance sets out | Worded as “may”, but read as the route to a reissue (our reading) |
| Form (Ordinance (1)) | Form No. 2, the passport loss report, with material proving how it was lost (only if there is any) | For theft, something like a local police report (our example) |
| Proxy (Ordinance (2)) | A report by proxy follows Art. 6 (applications by proxy) | Art. 6 covers people who cannot come through illness, disability or accident, under-18s and others |
| Under 18 (Ordinance (3)) | Reports for under-18s follow Art. 6-2 | Amended 1 October 2025 |
Ordinance Art. 6 requires a proxy to be 18 or over. Where illness, disability or an accident stops the applicant coming in person, the proxy can be a legal representative, an authorised spouse, or a relative within the second degree of the applicant or spouse, who brings a family relations certificate and a specialist’s diagnosis or opinion. The same applies to loss reports.
What reporting sets off — Act Art. 13, Decree Art. 20(3)
Act Art. 13(1) lists nine cases in which a passport loses effect; the third is “when it is lost and the holder reports the loss as the Decree provides”. The Act, Decree and Ordinance we read contain nothing that revives a passport found after it was reported. So check bags and rooms once more before reporting (our view).
The details also travel abroad. Decree Art. 20(3) lets the Minister, to prevent misuse and international circulation, give the following to the Justice Ministry, the police and other agencies, or on reciprocity to foreign governments and international bodies:
- passport number, issue date and expiry date
- date and place of loss and the office that took the report (only where the passport lost effect by a loss report)
Read plainly, a reported passport that turns up later may be stopped at a border (our gloss). Don’t plan travel on it.
Reissue — Act Art. 11, Decree Art. 18
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Grounds (Act (1)) | Details need correcting or changing; the passport was lost; it was damaged — three grounds | Loss is item 2 |
| Documents (Decree Art. 18) | (1) reissue application (2) the passport being replaced (not if it was lost) (3) 1 passport photo (4) documents the Ordinance sets | With a loss, the loss report comes first (our gloss) |
| Check (Act (2)) | Before reissue the Ministry may check through other agencies how it was lost if someone who lost a passport 2 or more times in the 5 years before applying applies again for the same reason, or the account is missing or doubtful — within 30 days of applying unless there is a special reason | “May” — discretionary |
| No time limit (Ordinance Art. 12) | If the loss is judged to involve a suspected breach of Acts Arts. 24, 25 or 26(1)–(2), the check period may have no limit | The penalty articles, e.g. lending a passport (our gloss) |
Validity of the new passport — the tool
Updates as you type. Counts follow Decree Art. 6(2)6; losses by natural disaster or other force majeure are not counted. Counting this loss in is our reading, and Art. 6(2) lets the Minister issue the shorter passport (“may”), so treat the result as the upper bound the rule allows.
The opening values (2 losses in 5 years, 1 within a year) are our example; the result is 5 years. Three in 5 years gives 2 years; 2 within a year gives 2 years; if 1 of 3 was force majeure such as an earthquake, it counts as 2 and gives 5 years.
The validity rules — Decree Art. 6
| Case | Validity | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| The rule | 10 years | Art. 6(1) |
| Under 18 | 5 years | Art. 6(2)1 |
| 2 losses in the 5 years before applying | 5 years | Art. 6(2)6(a) |
| 3 or more in the 5 years before applying | 2 years | Same item (b) |
| Notwithstanding (a), 2 in the 1 year before applying | 2 years | Same item (c) |
The proviso to item 6 leaves out losses due to natural disaster or other force majeure. The paragraph says the Minister “may” issue these, so there is discretion. The text doesn’t say whether this loss counts towards “the 5 years before applying”; the tool counts it, since it happened before the application (our reading). The tool flags the Act Art. 11(2) check on the same count at 2 or more, including force majeure losses, since that article has no carve-out for them. Nor does it say which rule wins when an under-18 also meets the 2-year rule, so the tool flags that case. Choosing a passport that runs only to the old expiry date, and the fees, are in passport fees and validity.
If it happens abroad — our note
Abroad, the pressing problem is a document to get home. The emergency passport and travel certificate, for when there is no time for a full passport, are covered separately. If your wallet went too, the Consular Assistance Act’s emergency remittance lets family in Korea send money you collect at the embassy. Missions that find items apparently owned by Koreans keep them 2 months and post them on the mission website (Consular Assistance Decree Art. 18). Who to call is in travel emergencies abroad.
Checklist
- ☐ Search once more first — a reported passport loses effect
- ☐ Loss report form, plus any proof of how it was lost
- ☐ Reissue application and 1 passport photo
- ☐ Count losses in the last 5 years and the last year
- ☐ Frequent losses may mean a check of up to 30 days
Questions that remain
If I find it after reporting, can I use it?
The Act, Decree and Ordinance we read have no reviving rule, and “reported as lost” is a ground for losing effect. Assume you need a new one, and confirm with the passport office.
Does theft count as a loss?
Decree Art. 6 only leaves out natural disaster or other force majeure; whether theft fits is not stated. Attaching a local police report to the loss form may help (our view).
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Passport Act Arts. 11, 13 — source (effective 28 August 2026, Act No. 21383; checked 28 October 2026). Three reissue grounds, the check after 2 or more losses in 5 years (within 30 days), and loss of effect on a loss report.
- Korean law database — Passport Act Enforcement Decree Arts. 6, 18, 20 — source (effective 1 March 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36078; annex amended 10 February 2026; checked 28 October 2026). Validity by number of losses and the force majeure proviso, reissue documents, loss reports and information sharing.
- Korean law database — Passport Act Enforcement Ordinance Arts. 6, 11, 12 — source (effective 1 June 2026, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ordinance No. 160; checked 28 October 2026). Proxies, the loss report form (Form No. 2), the check-period exception.
- Korean law database — Consular Assistance Act Enforcement Decree Art. 18 — source (effective 2 January 2026, Presidential Decree No. 35948). Found items kept 2 months and posted.
- Not read. Processing times by office, practice when a reported passport is found, the Ministry’s online reporting.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Local passport counters and Korean missions abroad — taking the report, documents, processing time.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs consular call centre — help when it happens abroad.
Written on 28 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
